Kristin Garnett - Home Buyers Guide V1 Book

between what your needs are and which items you would classify as desires. No matter how many desires you have unfulfilled now, they can be worked on later. A pool can be added after a promotion or two. Maybe you don’t like the color of the walls or the window frames. Paint color is rarely a need, but not having a garage if you are a shade-tree mechanic is.

A NOTE ABOUT PETS

Consider your pets in your home shopping. Home buyers who are pet owners have specific requirements — they must provide for their pets. A third of millennial-aged Americans (ages 18 to 36) who purchased their first home (33%) say the desire to have a better space or yard for a dog influenced their decision to purchase the home, according to a survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of SunTrust Mortgage. Dogs ranked among the top three motivators for first-time home purchasers and were cited by more millennials than marriage/upcoming marriage, 25%, or the birth/ expected birth of a child, 19%. It’s essential that the neighborhood in which you’re going to buy a house in has no restrictions on pets. Do you raise American Staffordshire Terriers? There are cities that ban this breed (aka pit bull). Goats? Vietnamese pigs? Have you always had fresh eggs from your own chickens? Include your animals in location planning. Some pet owners choose wood or other hard flooring, not wanting to risk pet damage or odors. An appropriate-sized fenced backyard is on the “needs” list for many pet-owning house buyers. Consider the arrangement of rooms and the structure of the house to ensure it’s suitable for your pets, too. Traffic in the area could be another checklist item.

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